Just Us Girls Challenge #61

Happy {belated} Thanksgiving, my friends!  Hope you are recovering from a huge meal shared with family and friends and a fun, successful shopping spree if you chose to rub elbows with the other crazy shoppers on Black Friday!!  LOL 

I'm hosting the Just Us Girls challenge (JUGS61) today and I decided to focus on the "3-D" option for our fourth challenge of the month.  No need to create a template today (unless you want to)...just add a 3-D holiday embellishment to your project!  Easy, right?  If you follow my work, you are probably aware that I love adding depth to my projects.  Not only because I create a lot of our MTME cut files and love to use them, but I love the dimension that 3-D embellishments add to a project.  So, in the spirit of the holidays and my love for dimension, I'd love to see your unique, 3-D holiday embellishments this week!

Here's my project:

I chose to add a 3-D holiday embellishment to a template for my project.  I used the MTME Star of the Show template and adorned it with my MTME Perfect Poinsettia cut file. 

To create the depth you see on my poinsettia, I alternated separating the layers with a glue dot and then a dimensional.  I kept the poinsettia simple and let the textured cs show off the pretty petals that I gently pinched together to create the center veins.  I used my MTME Timeless Tradition striped paper for the bottom layer of my box, lined the interior with parchment paper, and filled it with these awesome, dark chocolate covered shortbread star cookies I picked up at Trader Joes!  They are DELISH and are just perfect for this template!!!

What a quick, fun gift to give away during the holidays.  I'll most likely make a few more and hand them out at the office :]

Okay, that's all I have for you today!  Can't wait to see what you come up with!!!  Easy challenge this week...let's see your beautiful creations ♥  Be sure to post a direct link to your project on the JUGS blog and use keyword JUGS61 in any online galleries.  Oh, and you don't want to miss what our fab DT came up with!  Check them out:

Alicia {major computer issues, but check back later for her project}

Andrea

Dana

Kathryn

Lisa

Maria

Pam

Cheryl Rowley ~ Our November Guest Designer

Have a great weekend!  See you again on Wednesday for a CTD challenge I'm hosting :]

Just Us Girls Challenge #60

Good morning my friends!  I'm a little late with my post this morning because I finished my card really late last night.  I was simply too tired to type my post.  My daughter came home from gymnastics practice at 6:45 yesterday and asked me if I wanted to attend the "Beauty and the Beast" play at her school...at 7!  LOL  Uhh...can I just tell you it takes me at least ONE HOUR to get ready.  I was in sweats working on my card..nowhere near ready.  BUT, it's not every day your 16 year old asks you to spend time with them, so I pulled my hair back, touched up my makeup, got dressed and off we went.  The show was REALLY good...I'm so glad we went ♥  

Eventually, I finished putting my card together and uploaded it to JUGS.    Which by the way is a color challenge today!  Sweet Lisa is hosting and she selected a fun palette based on a cute Vera Bradley bag.  Take a look:

 My MTME A Loving Heart Umbrellas paper was a perfect match for the palette, so I built my card around it. 

I scaled Lauren's MTME It's a Shower template to 30% for my card.  I used my MTME All Tied Up Ovals cut file for my main layer and filled my umbrella with randomly scaled pieces of my MTME Marvelous Maple Leaf and Beautiful Beech Leaf cut files.  I cut the files from parchment cs I picked up at Staples and then sponged them.  I used two colors on each, sponging the lighter color on the entire piece and the darker color on the outer edges (Real Red and Cherry Cobbler on the maple leaf and So Saffron and More Mustard on the beech leaf).  I layered the leaves inside my umbrella using different thicknesses (1/16" and 1/8") of adhesive dimensionals.

I stamped my sentiment from MTME So Sentimental on one of the maple leaves, layered a beech leaf underneath and adhered it under my ribbon.  My top oval panel is embossed with the Tim Holtz Woodgrain embossing folder.  I used the yellow Criss Cross paper from my MTME Coffee Beans collection for the bottom panel.

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge (MTSC100) was the inspiration behind my layout:

That about sums it up for me!  Hope you enjoy the color challenge and take it on this week!!  If you do, post a direct link to your project over at JUGS and use keyword JUGS60 in any online galleries.  Before you get started, check out our awesome DT's projects:

Alicia

Andrea

Dana

Lisa

Kathryn

Maria

Pam

Cheryl Rowley ~ Our November Featured Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a fantastic weekend ♥

Color Throwdown Challenge #119

Ahhh...I can't help but think that five day weekends should be the new norm.  Yes, five days.  I'm home until Thursday studying for my next promotion test (I'm in the Air Force for those of you who are new to my blog :).  Of course on my breaks, I find things to do around the house...like finish my card for the Color Throwdown challenge!  LOL  The lovely, Bar, is our hostess with the mostess and she challenged us with an awesome color palette this week.  Check it out:

I took my Fall Foliage 'Mistletoe' paper and swapped the kiwi, pumpkin, and cherry with pear, espresso, and cajun in my image editing program.  I also printed some Darling Dots 2 Pear and Darling Dots 3 Cajun paper to use on my card. 

I cut the MTME Rosey Posey Rosette from the Cajun Darling Dots (I scaled the paper to 5x7). I secured the rosette using hot glue...it's really the only adhesive that works perfectly for the rosette. I've tried glue dots and regular adhesive, but they just don't hold the form of the rosette permanently. So, hot glue is my adhesive of choice for this cut file...works like a charm ;] I added a scalloped circle espresso base to make the rosette pop. I also cut the MTME Border Builders Elegance Scallop cut file from MTME Neopolitan paper for my "trim" on the top layer.

You may notice that I hand stitched the top panel with brown thread and did a little faux stitching on the bottom panel.  Umm...if you think I did that because I was running out of time and/or being lazy, you would be right.  It was kind of a combination of both :]  I think that might be considered bad form in our paper crafting world, but I was willing to risk it to make the final product a little more cohesive.  I added some chocolate satin ribbon and tied on my clear Tim Holtz tag stamped with an MTME Dashing Through the Snow sentiment and the small snowflake from the MTME Secret Santa set.

That's all I have for you today, but be sure to swing by our fab DT's blogs to check out their inspirational goodies :]  You'll notice a familiar name in the DT list below...yes, Cathy Indelicato is back after a long leave of absence!  We're sooooo happy she's joining us again!!  We sure missed that little lady ♥

If you don't have these exact colors, just use something that comes close.  Post a direct link to your project on the CTD blog and use keyword CTD119 in any online galleries.

Bar

Broni

Cathy ~ WELCOME BACK, gf!!

Danielle

Laura

Tammy

Lynn Put ~ November/December Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you're having a great week ♥

Just Us Girls Challenge #59

Just Us Girls are bringing you a fun technique challenge today!  Kathryn is the hostess and she chose to challenge everyone with making a gatefold card!  No catches, just a gatefold card designed and adorned however you choose! 



Soooo...if you know me and my way of thinking, I like to go against the grain with a lot of things.  I did just that with my gatefold card.  I thought it would be cool to have the opening run horizontal vs vertical.  Yes, I realize that an open gatefold that is made the traditional way, could stand on it's own...BUT, who leaves an open gatefold card on the counter?  I wouldn't!  They're decorated soooo cute on the outside, I would want to show that off instead.  SO...here we are with my non-traditional gatefold ;] 

I kept it fairly simple despite how it may look.  I designed my gatefold by welding a rectangle to my new Trendy Tags Set #1 cut file in SCAL (one on each side of the rectangle).  I printed some of my new MTME digi paper, Timeless Tradition (two sheets per page at 5"x7" each). I like the scaled look of the paper's design on cards.  I sized one of the mat layers manually and cut off the opposite side.  Once my mat layers were adhered, I cut out my new MTME Holly-Day Accents cut file and ran the leaves through my crimper several times turning the leaf 45 degrees before each run through.  I then used an embossing stylus to create veins in my leaves.  I adhered on leaf to the bottom fold and the other to the top.  The larger buttons overlap the center fold just slightly but they aren't heavy enough to hold the card shut securely, so I added some ribbon under my sentiment tag.  I created the tag by coloring the digi version of my image and sentiment from Dashing Through the Snow, printing and punching it out.  I also punched a Cherry Cobbler oval to make this layer sturdier.  For the holly berries, I decided to just adhere the buttons instead of threading them first...to keep the red as bold as possible :] 

Here's a shot of the inside.  I used two different stamps from the MTME Secret Santa set to create my sentiment and more of the Timeless Tradition paper to decorate it.

Here's a snapshot of the complete card wide open:

Last but certainly not least, I want to wish our dear Dana a very happy birthday!!!!  It's tomorrow :]  I made her card earlier this week so that I could send it on time, BUT, it just went into the mail today!  Sorry girlie :O)  Here's a peek of the card I made and the link to my post:

Okay, that's really all I have for you today.  If I missed anything you're curious about, please ask and I'll clarify.  I type my posts late at night sometimes and get a little groggy during that process :]  Mistakes are inevitible!  Please swing by our fab DTs' blogs (links are in my left sidebar), and visit our fab November guest designer, Cheryl Rowley.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'm hoping to work on a special project this weekend!  I'll share as soon as it's finished :]  Have a great weekend!!

Color Throwdown #118

Hi friends!  I'mmmm baaaaack...with my Color Throwdown (CTD118) project!  Today Broni is our brilliant hostess who selected a lovely palette! 

This was a fun one for sure...it just sang to me.  I have another card almost finished with this same palette.  Hope to get that done tomorrow ;]  In the meantime, I'll share my first card.  I made this for a dear friend (seriously) at work.  Yep...I went straight back to the burnt edged flowers because I'm head over heels for them!  Love flowers anyway, but being able to make my own VERY COOL 3-D flowers, is so appealing to me...I just couldn't resist when I went to use cherry cobbler.  I bought some satin ribbon at AC Moore during lunch just to make this card.  It's not exactly cherry cobbler, but it's close...and it coordinates beautifully with two of my digi paper patterns:  Fresh Fabric Collection 2, and School Plaid Collection 2 (the Candied Apple sheet in both).  I also used the Mugwart sheet in Fresh Fabric Collection 1 for the panel supporting my bloom.

I also bought a pearl flourish from AC Moore today.  It was a LARGE flourish, so I just trimmed the section I wanted to use on my card and adhered it before I added dimensionals and adhered my layers. The sentiment is from MTME So Sentimental and I used the SU label punch along with MTME Trendy Tags Set 1.

The layout is from this week's Mojo Monday sketch (MOJO164).

Okay, I'm WHIPPED!  Teacher conferences first thing tomorrow and an office luncheon.  It will be a good day, but I need some zzzzz's to enjoy it :O)

Please swing by the very talented CTD gals' blogs along with our guest designer!  They have some beauties this week!!

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Laura

Tammy

Linda Put ~ November Guest Designer

Thanks for checking in :]  Have a GREAT Wednesday.  Hope to see you back here on Veteran's Day with the other card I started.

Down to Earth Birthday Wishes ♥

I had some time today (before I started cleaning my craft room) to create a card for a very sweet friend of mine.  Like I mentioned yesterday, I bought a roll of double sided satin sash at WalMart and couldn't wait to try my hand at the satin, burnt edge flowers like some of the gals did for the JUGS57 Wild Card Challenge last week.  I did just that after my post last night and couldn't resist putting it on a pretty card today! 

I also used the sketch Andrea came up with for this week's JUGS58 challenge...isn't is great?  I find myself thinking of several different cards I can make using her sketch!  Today, I printed some of my patterned paper released at MTME in September called Down to Earth.  Aren't the colors fab?!  I love this collection ♥  I created the scalloped panel using my MTME Border Builders Scallop Dot cut file.  I used another one of my cut files, Trendy Tags Set #1 for my sentiment.  I only used the rectangle layer to hold over my sentiment and sponge around it with Pink Pirouette ink.  The sentiment is from the MTME So Sentimental set.  I sponged the edges of each panel with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink and added some pretty pearls to keep it girlie ♥

Okay, that's all I have for you tonight!  With any luck, I'll get another card done before the Wednesday CTD challenge!  Crossing fingers and toes ;]  Here's to a SUPER week!  Clinking my glass of Syrah with those of you who partake, and I'm munching on a dark chocolate covered graham cracker.  Yum...nice way to finish a lovely weekend, don't you think?

Just Us Girls Challenge #57

Yes, I'm posting my JUGS57 challenge the day after our JUGS58 challenge :]  LOL  Soooo like me...

Okay, well, I DID work on my flower last week and I experimented with SEVERAL fabrics.  Most that I had on hand just burnt and made my house smell.  BUT, I had some tulle, so I tried it (our hostess, sweet Dana gave me that idea).  The tulle curls and melts at the same time so you need to be careful not to leave it above the flame for too long.  Oh, and be careful when you're moving the tulle flower above the flame, not to inadvertantly hold the fabric center over the heat for too long...it WILL burn a hole in the center.  As my friend, Bar would say, "ask me how I know".  LOL  I decided to forego the standard paper craft idea and attached mine to a headband!  I simply wrapped the brad around the band and it stayed put.

When my daughter and I toured the University of Florida in September, I saw no less than 7 girls with large flowered headbands in their hair.  Come to think of it, my flower is somewhat small in comparison. 

My first stab at the flower is shown above.  My sweet friend, Jennifer who has been my on and off houseguest over the past couple of months, gave me the idea to add some glitter to the edges.  I was hesitant initially but decided, why not?!  I used some clear craft glue on the edges of my tulle flower and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds on it.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it looks!  So much better than when it was plain jane!  My daughter even wore it to my birthday dinner :]

You can't really see the glitter in the photo, and none of the close ups I took turned out, so please trust me about how gorgeous it looks :]  LOL  Oh...I almost forgot to explain the photo of Tia.  I'm so used to it I don't even think twice anymore when she takes a goofball photo.  She is a NUT.  Trying to get Tia to take a serious photo is no small feat.  The girl ALWAYS turns into goofball mode as soon as the camera is on.  Her gymnastics coach even had to publish photos in the newspaper of her being silly because she wouldn't have any normal, usable photos on her roll of film.  That kid...I tell ya.  In this shot, she was singing opera...her version of opera. 

I went to WalMart this afternoon and found some "ribbon" that was labeled as a double sided satin sash...it's pretty wide, so I picked it up to try my hand at the satin flowers.  I haven't finished yet, BUT maybe tomorrow ;]  Stay tuned...  Also, remember this week is our sketch challenge...check it out:

PERFECT to add one of these beautiful blooms to if you didn't get a chance to try this technique last week! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have an awesome Sunday ♥

Just Us Girls Challenge #58

Can I get an AMEN for Saturdays?!  Love 'em.  I wake up feeling rejuvenated and inspired...ready to accomplish those little things that seem to add up around the house.  I have a long to-do list I want to tackle this weekend...hoping I finish it wihout getting sidetracked doing things that can wait :]  Crossing fingers and toes...

So, being that today is Saturday and the first one of the month, we're challenging all of you with a fun sketch over at Just Us Girls!  Andrea whipped up this very cool sketch...WDYT?! 

Awesome, right?  I printed two batches of paper and had no less than three cards in mind for this sketch.  I only finished one card because I waited until Friday evening to get started...if I finish my weekend list, maybe I'll be back with more ;]  I have to tell you that the new November products at My Time Made Easy are making projects EASY for me!  I could use everything released over and over if I just had a little more time each day and week.  Today I used my new Perfect Poinsettia cut file for my flower.  I shrunk it to 50% and removed the base layer of leaves.  Initially after I finisehd adhering my poinsettia layers, I added my brand new polar white flower soft to the edges in an attempt to make it look like it had been lightly dusted with snow.  WEEELLLL...that did NOT work like I had imagined, so I scrapped the entire idea.  I settled with adding glitter on most of the petal edges instead.

I also used my new MTME Brisk Breeze, Pretty Printables digital paper pack.  When I designed this pack, I used colors that would come close to matching the following SU colors:

Not Quite Navy

Bashful Blue

River Rock

Chocolate Chip

Isn't it a fresh combination?  I almost chucked this color palette entirely, but decided at the last minute to keep it around.  I've been on a mission lately to incorporate more masculine patterns to my packs to make them even more versatile.  I think this one fits the bill nicely ;] 

I have to tell you that the text paper I included in my different packs this month makes me start singing Frosty the Snowman EVERY time I look at it, print it, use it...doesn't matter.  It just gets me singing!  If you look closely you'll notice that I used random phrases from different, popular holiday caroles for this paper..."There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found" is a prominent one that stands out because it's typed in chocolate colored font.  Who would have ever thought I would design paper that inspires one to create AND to sing along!  LOL

I added my sentiment using Lil Inker's easy to use Sentiment Flags and die.  This set is coming in handy left and right, and I suspect I'll be using it for a loooong time to come!  I curled the flag on both sides simply by smoothing the cs around my index finger and thumb.  I stamped "Winter Wonderland" from Lauren's MTME Dashing Through the Snow set.  Perfect fit, don't you think?  I added some random stitching using beige craft thread on all my layers, adhered some threaded buttons and called it a day in the craft room.  I like that this card is sort of rustic, yet clean (my preferred style of papercrafting).  Not sure who will end up with this one...I'm just adding it to my stash for the holidays. 

Okay, that's all I have for you today.  On a side note, I DID finish my flower from last week's challenge (I think I meantioned that in my CTD post)...anywho, I have been busy hanging out with a very good friend of mine who was our houseguest the past week or so, and I didn't have a spare minute to whip up another post. SO, I will try to post it this weekend ;]  In the meantime, check out the other JUGS gals' creations for some beautiful inspiration (links in my left sidebar) and also check out our lovely November featured designer, Cheryl Rowley.  If you play along be sure to add a direct link to your post over at the JUGS blog and also use keyword JUGS58 in any online galleries.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a FANTASTIC weekend ♥

JustRite 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hop 9

Welcome to the 9th week of JustRite Stampers’ Wednesday feature, 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops! Every Wednesday up until Thanksgiving some of your favorite designers will be joining some of the JustRite design team for a series of Christmas blog hops, showcasing JustRite’s entire Christmas Collection of stamps! Don’t forget that JustRite has some Christmas stamps in their newly released CLING line of stamp sets, too -- you can find them HERE. This week, the designers joining the JustRite design team is the Just Us Girls (JUGS) challenge blog design team!

For the month of November, we thought we would switch gears a little and throw in some holiday gift ideas using your JustRite stamps, so be watching for those, too, on November’s hops! And in celebration of JustRite’s 9th and 10th weeks of Christmas Blog Hops, they have a huge surprise for you -- take 25% off All JustRite Original Christmas Stamps now through November 15, with free shipping within the U.S. -- Don't forget to tell Santa!!

For my project, I used the ever so versatile Christmas Nested Frames.  The sentiment just spoke to me so I used it and worked around it. 

I framed the main sentiment using my MTME Trendy Tags Set 1 of 6  I created the frame on my Cricut by centering the rectangle that comes with the tag, both vertically and horizontally on my SCAL mat.  I cut another Trendy Tag #1 without the rectangle to stamp my sentiment on and layer behind my embossed frame.  I ran a glue stick along the outside and interior rectangle and added SU Dazzling Diamonds to make it pop.  My lower rectangle is stamped with one of the JustRite Nested Frames and embossed in white.  Isn't is pretty?!  I love how the details shined through perfectly. 

Every panel is popped up on dimensionals and I used some of the new MTME digi paper I created for the November release, Pretty Poinsettias - Collection 2 (Bashful) and Darling Dots - Collection 3 (also Bashful).  I love how fresh and crisp the blue looks...very holiday-ish to me ♥ 

Please visit these designers’ blogs to see what fabulous JustRite Christmas inspiration they have for you on the hop today!

JustRite Inspiration Blog

JustRite Design Team:
Debbie Olson
Sharon Harnist 
Heidi Blankenship
Kazan Clark
Stephanie Kraft
Barb Schram
Michele Kovack
Angela Barkhouse
Kathy Jones 

Just Us Girls Design Team:
Alicia Weiman
Andrea Matthews
Dana Gustafson
Kristin Bueter <--- You're Here!
Maria Levine
Kathryn Berthiaume
Lisa Kind
Pam Imholz

Thanks so much for joining us!

Color Throwdown Challenge #117

Hi all!  I'm here with a quick post today because I have TWO more posts I need to share.  One for the JUGS challenge from LAST Saturday and the other for the Just Rite blog hop. Keep an eye out...the latter will go live at 9 am central :]

Today Tammy is our hostess with the mostess and she chose a color palette that could go in several directions based on what you're inspired by this time of year.  Check it out:

I chose to use an autumn palette focusing primarily on the red and kraft (I actually substituted caramel). 

I DID use tangerine and marina mist!  The paper that my leaf is cut from (where you see a smidge of tangerine in the gradient and the MTME Just For You sentiment is stamped in marina mist) is a FREE sheet included with the Marvelous Maple Leaf cut file!  These are part of the November release at My Time Made Easy!  If you haven't checked out the release yet, you don't want to miss it!  Start with Lauren's blog to see her amazing samples and the store to view the new products. 

The graph paper is from my MTME Get Graphic - Collection 1 and Collection 2 Pretty Printables digi packs.  I added some crushed, tan ribbon that my sweet friend, LeAnne sent me, a button...and LOTS of dimensionals!  I sponged the distressed edges of my panels using Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The layout is my interpretation of Jen Del Muro's SFYTT from last Saturday.

Okay, that's all I have for you today!  I'll be back shortly with the Just Rite blog hop and later or tomorrow with my very late JUGS project!  We certainly hope you can play along with us this week!  If you do, be sure to add a direct link to your post over at the CTD blog and use keyword CTD117 in any online galleries!  Before you get started, feel free to absorb a TON of inspiration on the CTD gals' blogs...check 'em out:

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Laura

Tammy

Lynn Put ~ Our November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope the rest of your week is smooth sailing :]